AL
QAEDA TODAY
The Evolving Terrorist Landscape
09/28/07
A
22-year-old student—code-named “Irhabi
007”—creating a global virtual
support network for terrorist plotters in
Canada, Denmark, Bosnia, and the U.S., all
from his basement apartment computer in London.
Small
but sophisticated groups tapping into the
larger al Qaeda brand—perhaps even
receiving funding and training from bin Laden & Co.—but
operating largely as independent terrorist
franchises.
Homegrown, self-radicalized extremists inspired
by the violent dogma of al Qaeda germinating
plans to gun down soldiers at Fort Dix and
blow up a pipeline at J.FK. Airport.
It’s
the new shape of terrorism—specifically
al Qaeda driven or inspired—as outlined
Friday by Director Mueller at the Council
on Foreign Relations in New York.
In the
speech,
the Director describes the new three-tiered
threat posed by al Qaeda and its diverse
band of affiliates and supporters around
the world, whether that is in suburban basements,
in ungoverned spaces or tribal areas in places
like Pakistan and Africa, or in the shadows
of the Internet.
“When America’s hammer fell
on al Qaeda, al Qaeda broke into a hundred
pieces,” the Director said. “Some
of our adversaries were stopped, but others
spread. The network is now diffuse.”
Especially
in cyberspace, which the Director called “terrorism’s new frontier,
offering both persuasive inspiration and
practical instruction.” In the case
of Younis Tsouli—aka “Irhabi
007” or “Terrorist 007”—the
web was a tool to teach both the ideology
and technology of terrorism. Tsouli, traced
through a telephone number found in a terrorist
safe house in Bosnia, posted thousands of
files online, ranging from “videotaped
beheadings to detailed manuals for constructing
car bombs and suicide vests.”
And how to respond to this ever-evolving
threat? With a united front that transcends
national boundaries, agency jurisdictions,
and national security disciplines. The
Director says the FBI’s goal is to
be an “effective bridge” in
exactly those areas…and he gave
several examples of how we’re filling
that role today:
- By
working alongside the military in places
like Afghanistan and Iraq, operating
as a team to “search safe houses,
collect biometric evidence, analyze explosive
devices, and trace terrorist financing.”
- By becoming a fully integrated member of the
Intelligence Community, with stronger than
ever relationships with the CIA and the Department
of Homeland Security.
- By sharing information “on a daily
basis with our intelligence counterparts
on every continent, from MI5 in Britain
to the Mabahith in Saudi Arabia.”
- By working closely with our 800,000 state
and local law enforcement partners in the
U.S. and with our counterparts overseas
through our international offices now located
in 60 capitols worldwide.
- And by being a part of globally coordinated
investigations, where in the Tsouli case,
for example, many different countries “made
joint decisions as to when to move in and
disrupt the plots, so as to protect the
integrity of each other’s operations.”
To learn more about the new face of terrorism
and our role in intersecting the work of
militaries, intelligence services, and law
enforcement agencies, we encourage you to
read the full speech.
Resources:
- Director’s
remarks
- FBI
Counterterrorism operations
